NCAAB: PANTHERS GAINING RESPECT
The Pittsburgh Panthers basketball team is starting to get respect from oddsmakers as they host the South Florida Bulls on Wednesday night.
This is the first time in school history that Pittsburgh has been ranked number one and Sportsbook.com has them at a respectable 8:1 odds to win the national championship.
Pittsburgh only trails North Carolina (9:5) and Connecticut (6:1) and they are ahead of traditional powerhouses Duke (10:1), UCLA (12:1) and Louisville (12:1).
Duke is the team that might have the most value while Wake Forest (20:1) is another value pick.
Head over to our live odds page now as this is the best time to place your wager on the 2009 NCAA Championship.
For Wednesday, the one thing we know is that Pittsburgh (15-0) will be a heavy favorite over Big East foe South Florida (6-9).
The Panthers were whopping 20-point chalk at home against St. John’s on Sunday and they were still able to cover the spread by winning 90-67.
Big man, DeJuan Blair had 23 points and 15 rebounds Sunday and is really coming into his own after having 20 points and 17 boards a week earlier at Georgetown.
Only a sophomore, Blair combines with seniors Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs to form one of the most underrated frontlines in the country. Young is the leading scorer on the team at 19 PPG but it’s the wide-body Blair that has the NBA scouts talking as he has the type of game that can lead a team to a national title.
The Pitt backcourt is led by point guard Levance Fields, who averages 6.7 assists per game to go with 10.3 points. Freshman Jermaine Dixon also starts in the backcourt and his play should gradually improve come tournament time.
The bench is solid with Gilbert Brown and Brad Wanamaker but it doesn’t get much deeper than that right now.
South Florida is coming off their best win of the year, an 80-58 win at DePaul as 6 ½-point underdogs.
The Bulls get most of their scoring from guards Dominique Jones and Jesus Verdejo, who combined for half the team’s points against DePaul.
Freshman big man Augustus Gilchrist has also been emerging off the bench, but he’s going to have a tough time going against the physical Blair in the post.
Note that Pittsburgh is 10-4-1 ATS in their last 15 games overall. However, St. John’s had the lead for a lot of the first half in their last game and it was only a five-point Pitt lead at halftime (41-36) before a big second half run.
The Panthers are feeling a little bit of pressure in being ranked number one and they must play with 40 minutes of intensity if they hope to cover some of these large home spreads against inferior opponents.
